Museologist Alicia Woods stands behind a mangled yellow truck door.
“This is a part of a Weyerhaeuser truck,” she said. “It rode a lahar down the north fork of the Toutle River during the Mount St. Helens eruption.”
As statewide curator of Collections for Washington State Parks, Woods spends most of her time in a warren of rooms beneath a historic Olympia mansion. Her job involves documenting and caring for artifacts found in and around state parks. Some, like the truck door, are fascinating. Others are mundane. Many are downright perplexing.
Washington State Parks owns or manages nearly 800 historical structures, more than any other state agency in Washington. Most are located in parks and are accessible to the public.
Read the rest of the story on the governor's Medium page.